Coloured or cut for CANSA Shavathon
Some shaved all of their hair off and some opted for colour, while a few had both done
MBOMBELA – Fun and festivities abounded at Jock Pub & Grill last Friday, as people came from far and wide for the annual CANSA Shavathon.
Pink, green, silver, blue, and orange were just some of the colours people sprayed their hair, with emblems and stencil images of the cancer ribbon, paw prints, footprints, handprints, teddy bears and animal prints adorning the shorn heads of the participants.
Other Lowveld participants in the annual Shavathon were Buco Nelspruit, Crossing Centre, I’langa Mall, Riverside Mall, The Grove Centre, the Aero Club, Pick n Pay/Westpack Centre, Pick n Pay White River and Buco White River.
Some shaved all of their hair off and some opted for colour, while a few had both done. The CANSA Shavathon was first held in 2003 in the Eastern Cape, and has since become an important annual event nationally.
The reason behind the shaving of the head is symbolic in nature, in support of the sufferers who lose their hair. The colouring of the hair became an alternative option for those not inclined to shave their hair off.
A man explained how important it was to him, because his wife was a cancer sufferer. His wife later came by with their daughter, who had her long, flowing locks sprayed in an array of colour.
Her mother laughingly said how lovely her long hair was, which she was planning to cut short after her mother’s chemotherapy and donate to her. “It is so ironic,” the daughter said. “After the treatment it will be the opposite. I’ll have no hair and my mother will have lots.”
